(1) Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to the field of switching regulators and in particular to methods and circuits to power down switching regulators.
(2) Description of the Background
In some applications, the switching regulator output should be at ground level in the powered down state. Furthermore it would be desirable to harvest the energy stored in an output capacitor when the regulator is switched off. If the device frequently starts up and shuts down, this energy loss cannot be ignored, especially in systems with a finite energy supply such as battery operated systems.
Therefore it is a challenge for designers of switching regulators to achieve regulators having a most efficient power management.